The Kinds of Alive You Can Be
by marymin
Summary: Implied kidokano and setomary but Kano and Seto kiss in this story so. Warnings for some weird dubcon-y kissing though.


It was a comfortable sort of evening at the base. Kano was nowhere to be seen, and Kido was out doing the shopping. Seto could hear the bath running, a sound which seemed to disappear when it began to rain outside and the sound of the droplets striking the windows drowned it out. He was paging through some particularly uninteresting book that someone had left on the couch when he heard running feet in the hallway. Before he had time to look up, he'd been tackled.

He dropped the book, and didn't even have a chance to see where he'd dropped it before small fists grabbed his collar and then Mary was kissing him. He relaxed in her grip, reaching up to wind his arms around her as she moved her mouth against his. She seemed almost desperate, and he wondered what had her so rattled, as her tongue pressed against his lips and then delved into his mouth. Seto pulled the small girl into his lap, cradling her close as he tried to soothe her. Maybe it was the thunder.

He breathed in, and was met with the familiar scent of cigarette smoke and back alley trash piles. It took him a moment to realize where he knew that smell from, and then laughter was bubbling up in his throat. He waited until she stopped to breathe.

"Nice try," he said, chuckling. The dazed smile immediately dropped off her face.

"What did I forget this time?" she asked, pouting. Even though Seto had seen through the act, the little puffed out lip was so 'Mary' that he almost doubted himself.

"You smell like you've been sleeping outside for a week," he replied.

The girl on his lap dragged her hands down her face in aggravation, and the skin under her fingers stretched and melted. When she looked up again, cat eyes met Seto's, and Kano grinned. "Worth a try, though," he said.

All traces of Mary had dropped away in that instant, except for the blue dress. Seto felt the apron strap in his fingers, and it seemed real enough. "Did you take this?"

Kano poked his tongue out. "She's taking a bath, she won't miss it for ages." Seto had to admit that it generally took Mary hours to wash her hair, since there was so much of it.

The fact that Kano was wearing Mary's clothes aside, this wasn't shocking behavior. "Scared of the storm?" Seto joked, knowing he'd never get a straight answer out of him. Kano was impossible to deal with when he got like this, when he so desperately wanted affection but couldn't seem to ask for it honestly.

"Ehhh, don't tease me like that," Kano whined, and he played with the top button on Seto's collar, grinning crookedly to himself. "I was doing you a favor, right? All of the fun and none of the guilt, if you know what I mean."

"It's better to ask before you do things like that," Seto told him, keeping his voice light, but Kano acted like he'd been scolded.

"Mary won't be done for a long time, remember?" he said as an excuse, but Seto was shaking his head.

"And Kido? We don't know when she'd be back." Seto craned his neck to see the door, though he knew it was unlikely she'd be surprised, even when confronted with a sight like one of her brothers sitting on the others lap while wearing a dress.

"She won't care," Kano said airily, but his eyes slid to the door too, and Seto grinned to himself. Nailed it.

"Have you tried her yet?" Seto asked, and Kano rolled on his lap like a cat, ending up with his head on the armrest but the majority of his body still thrown across Seto's legs.

The smaller boy held up his hands, ticking off on his fingers. "I got Shintaro earlier, and Mary when I went in to get her dress—"

"When you went into the bathroom?" Seto asked in exasperation, and Kano looked up at him, sly.

"She was pretty happy to see me— that is, you. You should pop in if you get a chance."

Seto bumped the smaller boy's back with his knees, urging him to continue and change the subject. "I almost got you, and Hibiya is a last resort," Kano finished, then put his hands down and looked up at his foster brother with a mock serious expression. "I need to get Kido. I'm dying here. You have to help me."

"I'm not helping you trick her," Seto said mildly.

Kano groaned, placing a hand over his heart to show his earnestness. "I just need to know who to be. All it'll take is one tiiiiiny peek into her brain. Pleaaaaaaaaaase?" He clasped his hands together, pleading.

Seto burst out laughing, unable to keep it in anymore. "I don't have to _read her mind _for that," he chuckled, and Kano gaped.

"You know? Tell me!" His reaction was so exaggerated that Seto knew it was concocted, but he could sense a burning curiosity underneath as well.

Seto shook his head, grinning. "You'll have to ask her honestly for that."

"That's impossible," Kano whined, squirming in despair. It wasn't as impossible as he thought, but it was hardly Seto's place to tell him.

Still, there was the problem of Kano's loneliness that he wouldn't admit. The shorter boy finally got off his lap and stood, stretching lazily, but Seto was having one of it. He seized him around the waist and pulled him down again, flopping down to lie on the couch and tucking the smaller boy under his chin.

"Ehh, you should really ask first," Kano mumbled, echoing his words from before and rolling over to face him. "I would have had time to look like her again."

"I'm not going to make out with you," Seto clarified, and Kano huffed indignantly, but settled down in his arms all the same.

By the time Kido came home, sopping wet from the rain, they were asleep. She hardly spared the sight a second glance.


End file.
